Bottle carrier



July 14, 1953 E. L. ARNESON BOTTLE mama'- 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 15, 1947 INVENILOR. I 441ml drzzaaorz,

BY M

y 4, 1953 E. L. mugsou 2,645,403

. Pom R R Filed Jan. 15, 1947 r 2 Shoets-Sheet 2 /6A/ INVENTOR.

Ida/ml firm-2 072,

Patented July 14, 1953 BOTTLE CARRIER Edwin L. Arneson, Morris, 11]., assignor to Morris Paper Mills, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application January 15, 1947, Serial No. 722,123

Claims. (01. 229--28) This invention relates to improvements in an article carrier, and in particular to an inexpensive paperboard carrier adapted for use in transporting a plurality of bottles arrangedin rows on either side of a central suspending member.

It is an object of the invention to provide a carrier of the type described which is fabricated from a one-piece paperboard blank using a mini mum of stock, and which has novel provisions facilitating the manufacture thereof, as well as for imparting added strength and resistance to tearing or destructive distortionin use.

Another object is to provide an improved articlecarrier characterized by a strong, central,

multiple-ply partition and suspending member or panel, at which the filled carrier is grasped or suspended, and a row of article receiving cells on either side thereof, said carrier having improved means for strengthening the walls of the carrier adjoining opposite ends of said panel, so as to resist tearing under load stresses borne through the walls and panel.

Yet another object is to provide a carrier of the type described including opposed end and side Walls, a medial partition and suspending panel, and partition elementscut from the material of a pair of the opposed walls and from said panel which serve to subdivide thespaoe on opposite sides of the latter into separate article receiving cells, said carrier being fabricated from a one-piece paperboard blank of a novel design greatly facilitating and expediting the operations of folding and gluing the carrier.

' More specifically, it is an object of the invention to provide a bottle carrier having a rigid central triple-ply partition and suspending panel, plus flexible transverse division strips arranged in a vertically stepped or staggered order and subdividing the space on opposite sides of the panel into bottle receiving cells, said panel being integrally connected to said strips and to certain walls of the carrier and said last named walls having an improved reinforced construe tion to resist rupture or tearing under loadstresses transmitted through the panel, the partition and suspending panel comprising a pair .of full width panels between which flapshingedto the panel ends are disposed in face to face contacting relation.

The foregoing statements are indicative in a general way of the nature of the invention, but other and more specific objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon a full understanding of the construction and operation of the device. I

A single embodiment of the invention is presented herein for purpose of exemplification, and it will be appreciated that the invention is susceptible of incorporation in other modified forms coming equally within the scope of the appended claims.

In thedrawings,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a blank from which the carrier is fabricated in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view illustrating the blank of Fig. 1 in preliminarily folded and, glued condition;

Fig. 3 is a view illustrating the carrier following completion of the folding and gluing of the same, but prior to being set up to operative position;

Fig. 4 is an end view of the carrier showing in dotted lines a number of bottles positioned therein;

Fig. 5 is a view. inside elevationfurther illustrating the construction;

Fig. 6 is a view in section on a line corresponding generally to line 6--6 of Fig. 4, further illustrating the arrangement of the parts; and

.Fig. 7 is a further sectional view taken on a line corresponding to line 1-4 of 'Fig. 5.

Thisinvention pertains to improvements in a bottle or like article carrier of the type illustrated and described in the patent to Lebold No. 2,389,318, dated November 20, 1945. The patented carrier is fabricated from a one-piece blank which is slit, creased and folded to provide a central suspending and partition panel connected to opposed side walls on either side thereof by a plurality of partition straps which are cut from the material of respective walls and the panel in a vertically staggered relationship. These straps, in the erected condition of the carton, serve to subdivide the space between the Walls and partition panel into two parallel rows of article receiving cells. Reference may be made to the aboveidentified patent for a full description of the construction and advantages of the Lebold type carrier.

In the manufacture of carriers of the type 'deshown in the patent is employed, the straps tend to engage and catch or snag against one another in the feeding operation and as a result sometimes cause a break in the order of the advancing articles through a conventional type gluing and folding machine. This requires the personal attention of the operator and reduces the output of the machine. I

It has also been noted that under heavy loads or rough handling there is a possibility of lateral tearing in the end walls of the referred to holder, at their junction with the partition and suspending panel, since this is the point at which the main load stresses of the filled carrier are transmitted between the body thereof and the panel. While these objections in the previous carrier are more or less minor, nevertheless the present carrier embodies novel features eliminating the same, while preserving all of the very material advantages of the patented structure. In addition, an increased rate of production is made possible,

using a standard and well-known type of gluing and folding machine.

Generally considered, the blank from which the present article is fabricated enables the feeding thereof through the gluing and folding machine in a direction paralleling the direction of the slits which define the vertically spaced partition straps of the carrier, which the present article has in common with the patented carrier. Moreover, the construction is such as to afford a double-ply reinforcing thickness of the end wall immediately adjacent the transverse upper slitted edge-of said wall, along which the central partition panel is cut therefrom, thereby defining a protective ply transversely overlying or straddling the line along which tearing overload might be expected. Notwithstanding the fact that such theoretical tear line parallels the grain of the stock, the carrier is guaranteed against damage at this point, even under above-normal loads.

Referring to the drawings, in Fig. 1 I illustrate the blank from which one form of the carrier is fabricated. This is died out in a generally rectangular outline from a suitably stiff but flexible grade of paper board stock. Said blank is provided with a longitudinal fold or crease line I2 on which the blank is subsequently bent, in a manner tobe described, to provide a multipleply partition and suspending panel, as well as to superpose the sides of the blank and produce the finished knock-down article.

The blank includes two similar, rectangular wall portions 53, M, and said portions have end wall reinforcing fiaps or panels I 5, l 6, respectively, bendably connected thereto along the fold or crease lines I"! which extend at a right angle to the medial line i2. Said fold lines I! define end margins for the rectangular portions l3, l4 and coincide with a pair of the diagonally opposed corners of the finished and erected carrier, as wil1 appear.

Bottom defining members are bendablyconnected to the side margins of the portions [3, M as by a fold or crease line l8 paralleling the medial fold line 12. In the case of the portion l3 said bottom defining means consist of an end bottom flap 2i! and a pair of adjacent locking tabs 2 I, 22 which are separated from each other by a transverse slit 23 and from the bottom fiap 26 by a transverse slit. In the case of the portion l4, the bottom defining means consist of an end bottom flap 25, similar to the fiap 20, and a further fiap 2t separated therefrom by a transverse slit. Flap 26 is provided With'a longitudinally extending locking slot 28 adapted to receive certain oppositely extending locking ears 29 which are formed on the tabs 2|, 22, after the various tabs and flaps have been folded inwardly across the bottom of the carrier, in a well-known fashion. This bottom defining structure is old and well known in the art and does not constitute a part of the present invention.

The rectangular side portions l2, 14 of the blank are provided with certain slits and creases, which are identical but in inverted relation in the respective portions. Said slits and creases serve to subdivide the said portions of the blank and to in part define therein the pairs of integral- 1y connected, opposed end and side walls of the carrier, along with a longitudinally extending central partition and suspending panel and certain transverse straps. Such straps are arranged in a vertically stepped relationship to extend between the panel and the side Walls so as to subdivide the space on opposite sides of said panel into article receiving cells.

To the above ends, the portions of the blank on opposite sides of crease l2 are each provided with a set of three elongated, parallel slits, hereinafter more fully described, arranged in a laterally spaced, longitudinally overlapped relation, paralleling and spaced from the medial fold line [2. The slits are in equally overlapped relation to one another. They extend completely through the material of the blank and are intersected by certain fold lines or creases, hereinafter described.

into side and end wall panels, specifically designated 33, 34, respectivel and to define various coacting elements.

The above referred to creasing includes the transverse creases 35 which are located in alignment with the flap defining slits 24, 21, respectively, and constitute fold lines hingedly articulating the aforesaid side and end wall panels 33, 34. Accordingly, they will be disposed at diagonally opposite corners of the carrier in the erected, operative position thereof.

The respective sets of slits referred to above separate the above referred-to wall panels from longitudinal partition and suspending panels 36' on opposite sides of the medial fold line l2; and they also serve to define three transverse partition straps on either side of said line.

In completing the carrier from the thus scored and slitted blank, the same is fed through a conventional gluing and folding machine, in a. direction paralleling the direction of the sets of strapdefining creases described above, so that there is no tendency for the straps to snag against one another and impede the operation of the apparatus.

As an additional feature, the carrier under consideration is provided with end flaps 56, 5f bendably conjoined to opposite ends of the partition and suspending panels 36' along a transverse fold line 52. Said end fiaps 50, 5! are separated from the carrier end walls 34 by slits 53. Mating hand holes 54 are defined in the respective panels 36 by the Ushaped slits 55 and the connecting creases 56, and the panels 50, 5! are provided with similarly shaped and located notches or recesses 51 adapted to register with the aforesaid openings 54 when the panels are folded over on lines 52 into superposed relation to the respective partition and suspending panels 36. The

formed in the blank in the following fashion."

Parallel, longitudinally overlapped and laterally spaced slits 58, 59 are provided in the portions l3, M of the blank, the latter ofwhich is intersected at one end by a transverse fold crease B in end wall panel 34. Said crease islocated at the midpoint in the width of panel 34 and in alignment with the crease 52 which defines one end of panel 36 in the completed condition of the, carrier. Slit 59 is curved at, its juncture with crease 50 as indicated at 59 to minimize tearing tendency as hereinafter pointed out. It extends equal distances on opposite sides of fold line 35 and at its opposite end is intersected by atransverse crease 6| in wall 33 which extends in the lateral direction to slit 58. A further aligned crease 62 extends to the top of side wall panel 33, where it is intersected by a slit 63 aligned with slit 53 and coincident withthe top of panel 33. Slit 63 serves to separate panel 33 from the central partition and suspending panel 36.

The slit 58 extends from a crease 64 which is in alignment with corner crease 35 to apoint coincident with the end margin of panel 36 where it is intersected by a crease .65 aligned with said margin.

In completing the carrier, the panels l5, l6

ished knocked-down carrier illustrated in Fig. 3.

In this form the carrier is characterized by a multiply partition and carrying panel, generally designated by the reference numeral 68, which is of three-ply thickness throughout the major portion of the area thereof, including the area adjacent the hand holes 54. The presence of this extra material at the load sustaining zone of the suspending member enables the carton to be fabricated in perfectly satisfactory strength either of a light gauge stock or of an inexpensive chip board. Panels l5, I6 inhibit tearing tendency at the end walls, as does also the curved end 59 of slit 59, extending transversely of the a so that end shifting and resultant instability are impossible. As clearly illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, the carrier terminates beneath the tops of the bottles disposed therein, enabling a number of the filled carriers to be stacked in vertical relation. r

I claim:

1. An article carrier fabricated from acnepiece paperboard blank and comprising a pair of panels defining an upstanding partition member, a lateral flap hinged to an end of each of said panels and folded inwardly to position between the latter, spaced side walls paralleling said member on opposite sides thereof, end walls hinged by vertical creases to end margins of said side walls,

saidend walls each including a panel to which one of said partition member panels is hingedby a vertical crease extending only partly of the height of the end wall panel, said flaps being separated by cuts in the blank from the material of said respective end weallpanels, division members bendably connected to said respective side walls and member on vertical hinges and adapted to extend between the respective panels and said respective side walls, said division members serv ing to divide the space on either side of the partition member into cells, said partition member being in fixed verticalrelation to said division members and side walls, and means providing a bottom for the carrier connected to said walls.

2. An article carrier fabricated from a onepiece paperboard blank and comprising apair of panels defining an upstanding partition member, a lateral flap hinged to an end of each'of said panels and folded inwardly to position be tween, the latter, said panels being connected to one another by afold line along the top of said member which is integral with both of 7 said panels, means securing said panels in fixed relation to one another, spaced side walls paralleling said member on opposite sides thereof, end walls hinged by vertical creases to end margins ofsaid side walls, said end walls each including a panel to which one of said partition member panels is hinged by a vertical crease extending only partly of the height of the end wall panel, said flaps being separated by cuts in the blank from the material of said respective'end wall panels, division members of integral one-piece construction bend ably connected to said respective side walls and member on vertical hinges which are integral with said respective panels and side walls and adapted to extend between the respective panels and said respective side walls, said division members being defined by cuts serving to divide the space on either side of the partition member into cells, said partition member being in fixed vertical relation to said division members and side walls, and means providing a bottom for the carrier connected to said walls.

3. An article carrier fabricated from a onepiece paperboard blank and comprising a pair of panels defining an upstanding partition member, a lateral fiap hinged to an end of each of said panels and folded inwardly to position-between the latter, said panels being connected to one another by a fold line along the top of said member which is integral with both of said panels, means securing said panels in fixed relation to one another, spaced side walls paralleling said member on opposite sides thereof, end walls hinged by vertical creases to end margins of said side walls, said end walls each including a panel to which one of said partition member panels is hinged by a vertical crease extending only partly of the height of the end Wall panel, said fiaps being separated by cuts in the blank from the material of said respective end walls panels, division members of integral one-piece construction bendably connected to said respective side walls and member on vertical hinges which are integral with said respective panels and side walls and adapted to extend between the respective panels and said respective side walls, said division members being defined by vertically spaced cuts from the wall height of cells adjoining the same, :said' partition member being in fixed vertical :relation to said division members and side Walls, :and meansproviding a bottom for the carrier iconnected to said walls;

4. An article carrier fabricated from a onepiece paperboard blank and comprising a pair of panels of substantially equal size defining an upstanding suspending and partition member, said panels being integrally and bendably con- .nected to one another by folding along the top of said member, lateral flaps on said member foldable inwardly from opposite ends thereof between the panels to strengthen and rigidify' said member, spaced side walls paralleling said member on opposite sides thereof, end walls hinged by vertical creases to end margins of said side walls, said end walls each including a panel to which one of said partition member panels is hinged by a vertical crease extending only partly of the height of the end wall panel, said flaps being separated by cuts in the blank from the material of said respective end wall panels, division mem bers bendably connected to said partition member and side walls along vertically extending hinges, and means providing a bottom for the carrier connected to said walls.

5. An article carrier fabricated'from a onepiece paperboard blank and comprising a pair of panels of substantially equal size defining an upstanding suspending and partition member, said panels being bendably connected to one another by folding along the top of said member, lateral flaps on said member foldable inwardly between the panels to strengthen and rigidify said member, spaced side Walls paralleling said member on opposite sides thereof, end walls hinged by vertical creases to end margins of said side walls, said end walls each including a panel to which one of said partition member panels is hinged by a vertical crease extending only partly of the height of the end wall panel, said flaps being separated by cuts in the blank from the material of said respective end wall panels, division members of integral one-piece construc# tion bendably connected to the respective panels of said member andsaid respective side walls, said division members being integral with said walls and panels and defined by cuts in the material of the blank from which said side walls and. partition member panels are taken and serving to divide the space on either side of the partition member into cells, and means providing a bottom for the carrier connected to said walls.

EDWIN L. ARNESON.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,273,266 Himes Feb. 17, 1942 2,322,396 Slevin June 22, 1943 2,354,528 Lowey July 25, 1944 2,367,066 Slevin Jan. 9, 1945 2,389,318 Lebold Nov. 20, 1945 2,390,020 Wesselman Nov. 27, 1945 2,395,711 Arnold Feb. 26, 1946 2,418,350 Holy Apr. 1, 1947 2,458,281 Lupton Jan. 4, 1949 2,460,229 Lebold Jan. 25, 1949 2,537,452 Forrer Jan. 9, 1951 

